BI 311 MICROBIOLOGY
LAB SYLLABUS
TF: Sarah Oppelt
Email: Oppelts@bu.edu
Office: 724 LSEB, Tolan lab
Office Hours: 2-3 pm, Mon & Wed
Laboratory Manual: H.J. Benson, Microbiological Applications
Materials needed: Notebook, COLORED PENCILS
Sections:
B1: MW 12-2 pm
B3: TR 9-11 am
B2: MW 3-5 pm
B4: TR 2-4 pm
Grading Criteria
Lab Notebook (2 NB checks worth 5 pts each)
10 pts
Pop Quizzes (5 quizzes worth 2 pts each)
10 pts
Lab Question Packets
30 pts
1. Techniques (10 pts)
2. Optimal Growth (10 pts)
3. Bacteria & You (10 pts)
Working with an Unknown Bacteria
15 pts
1. Description of Bacteria Colony (10 pts)
2. Outline of Unknown Bacteria Experiments (5 pts)
Lab Report
20 pts
1. Rough Draft of Unknown Report (5 pts)
2. Final Lab Report on Unknown Bacteria (15 pts)
Lab Practical Exam
15 pts
______________________________________________________________________
Lab Polices
Attendance. Attendance is mandatory, and will be taken before every laboratory period. Each
student may have ONE excused absence. Due to the nature of the lab, make ups may or may
not be possible and will always be at the discretion of the TF. Any conflicts with the dates below
should be brought to the TF’s attention during the first week of the lab.
Dress. Gloves must be worn at all times and hands washed before and after lab exercises. Lab
coats and goggles are optional, but strongly suggested. Cheap paper lab coats are available at
the bookstore. No open toed shoes, shorts, or short skirts. Long hair must be tied back.
Other. Some labs require coming in outside of scheduled lab time.
No cell phones during lab. Some labs require longer periods of incubation, but do not require
you to check FB. Phones will be confiscated until lab is over, and reoccurring offenses will result
in a deduction of points 5 pts off your final grade every.
No food or drinks can be brought into lab. This includes gum, coffee, and water bottles.
Workspaces must be cleaned with 70% EtOH before and after each lab session, and all
materials put back in the proper place.
Any injuries, no matter how minor, should be reported to the TF immediately. Any pre-existing
health conditions should be reported to the TF where pertinent.
Week
lab A
lab B
notes &
articles
week 1
Mon 1/23
Lab 1
a. Intro to lab & focus
b. Brightfield Microscopy
c. Asceptic Technique
d. Difference between microbes: bacteria
vs. fungus vs. protists
Lab 2
a. Results – Asceptic Technique
b. Enumeration of Bacteria
Intro to lab
Techniques
packet
week 2
Mon 1/30
Lab 3
a. Results – Enumeration
b. Pure Culture (first streak)
c. Smear Preparation
d. Gram Stain
Lab 4
a. Pure culture (pick a colony)
b. Spore Stain
c. Acid-fast Stain
Techniques
week 3
Mon 2/06
Lab 5
a. Pure culture (final streak)
b. Ubiquity of Bacteria
c. Negative Staining
d. Motility Determination
Lab 6
a. Results - Ubiquity of Bacteria (focus
on colony morphology) – pick one
distinct colonies and start pure cultures
b. Review of Techniques
Techniques –
packet due during
Lab 6
Assignment:
describe one
culture from
Ubiquity of
Bacteria plate,
due lab 9
week 4
Mon 2/13
Lab 7
a. Ubiquity of Bacteria – streak plates to
confirm pure culture & inoculate broths
to describe optimal growth conditions
b. Introduction to Optimal Growth
c. Temperature Effects on Growth
d. pH and Microbial Growth
e. Motility of Ubiquity culture
Lab 8
a. Results – Temp. Effects on Growth
b. Results – pH & Microbrial Growth
c. Results – Motility of Ubiquity culture
d. Gram stain of Ubiquity culture
Optimal Growth
Assignment:
describe one
culture from
Ubiquity of
Bacteria plate,
due lab 9
week 5
Mon 2/20
President’s Day, no lab
Lab 9
a. Cultivation of Anaerobes
b. Water Activity and Osmotic Pressure
Optimal Growth
Assignment:
describe one
culture from
Ubiquity of
Bacteria plate,
due lab 9
week 6
Mon 2/27
Lab 10
a. Results – Cultivation of Anaerobes
b. Results – Water Activity & Osmotic
Pressure
c. How to kill bacteria – Temperature:
Lethal Effects
Lab 11
a. Results – Temp: Lethal Effects
b. Review of Optimal Growth Conditions
Optimal Growth
Week
Lab A
Lab B
notes &
articles
week 7
Mon 3/04
Lab 12
a. How to kill bacteria – UV Light:
Lethal Effects
Lab 13
a. Results – UV Light: Lethal Effects
b. Intro to Bergey’s Manual
c. Assignment – outline for how to
identify an unknown bacteria
d. Notebook Check
Optimal Growth
Packet due
during Lab 13
week 8
Mon 3/12
week 9
Mon 3/16
Spring Break, no labs
Spring break, no labs
Lab 14
a. Pass out unknown cultures
b. Gram stain of unknowns
c. Optimal Growth conditions of
unknowns
Lab 15
a. Results – Unknown characterization
b. More staining if needed
Characterization
of Unknown
week 10
Mon 3/26
Lab 16
a. Physiological Characteristics:
Oxidation & Fermentation (part 1)
Lab 17
a. Results – Physiology: Oxidation &
Fermentation
b. Physiological Characteristics:
Hydrolytic & Degradative Reactions
Physiological
Characteristics,
Characterization
of Unknown –
review of results
week 11
Mon 4/2
Lab 18
a. Results – Physiology: Hydrolytic &
Degradative Reactions
b. Bacterial Examination of Water:
Qualitative Tests, #1
Lab 19
a. Bacterial Examination of Water, #2
b. Bacterial Counts of Food
Bacteria & You
Assignment:
Characterization
of Unknown –
first draft of
report due during
Lab 19
week 12
Mon 4/9
Lab 20
a. Bacterial Examination of Water, #3
b. Results – Bacterial Counts of Food
c. A Synthetic Epidemic
Lab 21
a. Results – A Synthetic Epidemic
b. Evalutation of Alcohol
c. Discussion of Lab Report Drafts
Bacteria & You
week 13
Mon 4/16
Patriots Day, no labs
Lab 22
a. Results – Yogurt & Alcohol Production
b. Evaluation of Antiseptics
c. Antimicrobial Sensitivity Testing
Bacteria & You –
Packet due
during Lab 22
week 14
Mon 4/23
Lab 23
a. Lab Practical & Notebook Check
b. Turn in final report for
Characterization of Unknown Bacteria